Best hotels in Loch Lomond 2022: Where to stay for culture and value for money
Loch Lomond isn’t just home to some incredible walking routes, cycling tracks and landscapes, it’s also got a whole host of great places to stay
JimMin
Given all the glorious nature on tap – loch shores, hill slopes, wildlife-rich woodlands – it’s understandable why many Scots claim ownership of Loch Lomond. It’s the most accessible wilderness for Glaswegians, offering almost front door access to the mountain-scapes and storied lochs of Central Scotland. Equally appealing in the spaces between are some of the finest hotels in Britain, from grandstanding A-lister hangouts to scene-setting boutiques that locals would rather keep to themselves. Here are our favourites.
The best hotels on and around Loch Lomond are:
Fancy staying where Barack Obama and Leonardo DiCaprio have before?
(Cameron House)
Neighbourhood: Balloch
Rebooted after a tragic fire six years ago, this hunting lodge-style manor has made a welcome return and is what Central Scotland has been missing – a hot ticket hotel where guests can feel equally at home in muddy boots or a ball gown. Barack Obama and Leonardo DiCaprio checked-in last year during COP26 in Glasgow, so expect five-star service at your fingertips, plus a design reflecting both the building’s gentrified history and its newfound star power. Deep down, though, this is an industrious place and there are 140-plus rooms and a maze of 115 self-catering lodges, offering plenty of choice amid the pines and loch views. Otherwise, you’re here for paddleboarding, kayaking and indulging in a champagne speedboat ride. For a splurge, a seaplane offering Highland tours docks mere metres from the front steps.
Price: Doubles from £199
You can spend the night right in front of those rolling green hills
(Monachyle Mhor)
Neighbourhood: Balquhidder
Stuff happens at this delightful family-run farm hotel at the end of a single-track road in Balquhidder Glen. Principally, it’s because of owner Tom Lewis, an infectious polymath now in charge of great restaurants, cafes, a fish shop, bakery and summer festival all in and around nearby Callander. The hotel remains the heart and soul of this mini empire, though, and it’s an absolute delight by any measure. The interiors wouldn’t look out of place in a design catalogue, the service is knock-your-socks off good and the tasting menu – the highlight – is better than many Michelin-starred menus this reviewer has had. Also factor in a terrific lochside location, beach to walk to, donkeys to feed and a dolly mixture of rooms, from an airstream trailer and snug to a treetop hideaway and more traditional doubles in the old farmhouse. Absolutely terrific.
Price: Doubles from £195
This 17th century spot is perfect for history buffs
(Drovers Inn)
Neighbourhood: Inverarnan
It’s a history lover’s kind of place when there are almost as many ghost stories as bedrooms and the decor is old-fashioned enough to make you believe you’ve travelled back in time. And yet this is the appeal of this supposedly haunted, 15-bed coaching inn located at the northern tip of Loch Lomond. Rooms brim with antiquated wooden furniture, oil paintings and a textbook tartan look, while the downstairs boozer is a classic of the genre – it’s crammed with taxidermy and dates back to the 17th-century. The claim that Rob Roy once stayed here might be dubious, but what is true is it’s a favourite of A-list Glaswegian stallion Gerard Butler.
Price: Doubles from £45
It’s not often you look out over a sight like this
(The Lodge on Loch Lomond )
Neighbourhood: Luss
In good weather, the sea-meets-sky view of Loch Lomond and Ben Lomond from this mini resort glows. Which is to say this is a property grounded in landscape, but also one in prime short break territory; for peace and solitude, you’ll want to travel out of the summer high season. There are 48-rooms, from classic doubles to tartan-spruced suites and two-bed lodges, and it’s also home to a conference centre and bumper-sized restaurant that pleases all-comers. To keep yourself busy, there’s a full timetable of activities and a spa. Throw yourself off the jetty into the Baltic water if you dare, or sit with a drink and blanket on the shingle beach. Arguably the best rooms are the suites with the glass balconies. Note, it’s a popular wedding venue from April to October, meaning you’re always in earshot of a piper.
Price: Doubles from £180
Enjoy a pint in this stylish bar
(Mhor 84)
Neighbourhood: Lochearnhead
Did we mention Tom Lewis? Well, the serial entrepreneur and his family also run this so-called roadside motel, which doubles as a cracking food pitstop on the A84 road north to the Highlands or Perthshire. Effectively, the vibe is the same as nearby Monachyle Mhor (super friendly, rustic and retro, design smart) and, while the rooms offer simple home comforts, the hotel brims with plenty of other reasons to check in. Namely, the groovy cafe, bar and restaurant – for sociable breakfasts, buns, beers, and drams – and the location. Southern Scots see the Trossachs as being rather on the wild side and, in a way, they’re right: off the road, there’s a whole world of forests, mountains and glens to discover. Pick from doubles, twins, a family suite, cottage or rooms hidden out the back.
Price: Doubles from £125
Treat yourself to an evening meal of scampi and chips at nearby The Inn
(The Inn on Loch Lomond)
Neighbourhood: Inverbeg
More than 200 years in the making, this boutique hotel is a traditional coaching inn that was amped-up with modern Scottish flair when taken over by the same outfit behind the nearby Lodge on Loch Lomond. For your money, you’ll be treated to lochside rooms with Porcelanosa bathrooms or beach houses slap bang on the bonnie banks themselves – our pick is Beach Ben Vane, a cottage with floor-to-ceiling windows and freestanding tub overlooking the loch (exhibitionists, beware). Come supper time, don’t miss the fish and chips or monkfish scampi at The Inn’s Restaurant.
Price: Doubles from £180
Wake up to a spectacular view on the waterfront
(Loch Lomond Waterfront)
Neighbourhood: Balmaha
On the lesser-visited eastern banks of Loch Lomond, this collection of timber-framed, self-catering chalets and shepherd’s huts is for those seeking a bit of room to roam. The dog-friendly wooded grounds are bounded by nature reserves, there’s an exclusive stretch of the loch for fishing, watersports and boating, and each lodge comes with its own private hot tub, steam cabin and bbq area – there’s no mixing with the hoi polloi here. All of that should work for most family and group combinations, as should Perch, the onsite restaurant which comes up trumps when you can’t be bothered to cook. Note, in high season there’s a two to three-night minimum stay.
Price: Lodges from £295
Duck Bay’s restaurant is a fabulous place to dine
(Duck Bay)
Neighbourhood: Balloch
On the next bend along the road from Cameron House heading north, this longstanding Loch Lomond institution is a wallet-friendly favourite. As well as having a ringside seat on Loch Lomond, it’s a sanctuary of doubles, cottages and loch-facing rooms and suites, most of which have a maritime feel and bright blue colour scheme throughout. Bobby’s, the restaurant and bar, works hard from breakfast right through to last orders and there’s as much (or as little) as you want to do right outside. The most popular pastime, though, is a tipsy evening stroll right from the property and along the lochside. Take an umbrella just in case.
Price: Doubles from £109
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